As fire continued to burn at the world’s largest lithium-ion battery storage facility in Moss Landing on Friday, state Sen. John Laird sat in a nearby trailer with state and local officials watching live drone footage of the fire continuing to flare up and consume more batteries.
“It’s just tragic,” Laird, among the leading environmentalist legislators in Sacramento, told Lookout. “The goal of everyone being safe, and the goal of getting off fossil fuels and having a clean energy grid, are in conflict with this situation.”
By Friday, less than 24 hours after the fire began, evacuation orders remained in place and answers of who, what, why and how were elusive, but state and local leaders throughout this environmentally minded Central Coast enclave let out a chorus of frustration and disappointment. All demanded accountability and acknowledged the skepticism ahead for this technology meant to clean the air, not fill it with toxic chemicals…